Back to one
by haku88
Summary: This story will be deleted shortly to be re-written. I'm not happy with how it's written rushed .
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: _**A S S U M P T I O N S **_

The city was bustling with activity. People came in and out of the stores at the commercial district, buying presents for their beloved families. The merriment of the season could be seen in their eyes and the jolliness of holyday in their cheery attitude. Snowflakes gently fell upon them from the sky, getting caught in their jackets' texture and lying a thick blanket of snow on every unmoving objects. Within those people, a young man wearing a thick brown coat and cowboy hat stood in front of one of the many display windows with special orders; he was staring at a huge light brown teddy bear with a cute yellow scarf around its neck. He grinned warmly. Invisible to the naked eye, he wore an earpiece and a mouthpiece. He grinned.

"This is teddy bear; there's no movement whatsoever in the commercial district, but there a 50% off sale here." He whispered into his mouthpiece with a light chuckle. His words did not go unheard.

"Wolf here; keep focused, man, and it's Bear not Teddy bear."An irritated man replied after hearing the cowboy's mention of a sale. The cowboy's grin grew bigger.

"Aww come on, Wolf, I'm cute, cuddly and huggable just like a teddy bear." He whispered with a laugh. "And I thought you'd find it funny." He added looking at his own reflection on the glass and fixing his hat. A female's giggling was heard through the earpiece, before the male voice was heard again.

"Oh shut up!!" The male exclaimed a little more irritated than intended. The cowboy laughed; he enjoyed getting on his teammates nerves, but he was surprised when the third male said nothing. He started hearing the people around him murmuring and, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw everyone turning to look at the hotel behind him at the other side of the street. His smile faded as he looked at the glass again and saw the reflection of a four vehicle convoy. Next to the store he was in front of there was a café; he walked towards with a serious expression on his face. Once inside the café, the cowboy sat near the window and stared at the convoy.

From one of the cars, a man in his mid-forties with black-grayish hair stepped out of a car. The man was wearing a military outfit; one of a high rank officer. The cowboy recognized the man and smirked. The man walked into the hotel followed by a couple of other soldiers.

"The sparrow is in the nest; I repeat: the sparrow is in the nest. Begin the operation." The cowboy whispered while grabbing a newspaper that was lying on top of the table. He looked at the hotel and waited for some sort of response.

"Roger." His leader's deep and serious voice was heard. "Please report of any change in the sparrow's position; we are really depending on it." He added, to which the cowboy smiled to himself and turned to his newspaper. Things were going according to plan.

Somewhere else, a gray van rode through the desert-like landscape escorted by a man on a motorcycle. The darkness of the night provided cover for them. The cold hit them mercilessly, making some of them regret not taking their jacket. Adrenaline pumped through their veins as their destination made its appearance in the distance, the D-District Prison of Galbadia. They were going to break in to get someone out.

The place was made to hold possible threats to the galbadian government and political prisoners. According to the new galbadian president, a young man inside said facility was a dangerous threat to their government and to all of the galbadian society. The young man was imprisoned for treason, murder, a lot of criminal assaults against members of the government and harassing soldiers. As a request from the president himself, the young man had been sentenced to a public execution a week from that day. To the date, the young man only had forty-two hours left.

Once they reached the prison facility, a female wearing a soldier's blue uniform and its helmet got off of the van. The male of the motorcycle walked towards her and removed his motorcycle helmet, revealing blonde hair. She took some handcuffs and placed them around his wrist before starting to pull him inside.

"Kitty here; we're going in." The female said pulling the blonde into the facility. "Is everyone else in position?" She added stopping right in front of the entrance.

"Sunshine is in position and ready for takeoff." A young woman with a tiny voice chirped.

"Teddy bear is watching sparrow and waiting to take action." The cowboy replied with a chuckle. The blonde rolled his eyes.

"FALCON, READY." A female said in a monotone.

"Bull is also ready, y'know?" A male with a deep hoarse voice said.

"Lion is in position." Their leader said. "Angel, be sure to accelerate as soon as they board the van." He added.

"Angel here; don't worry I know what to do." A female said with a cheerful tone.

"That's what I'm worried about." The leader said. "Anyways, Kitty, Wolf is up to you now to retrieve the Tasmanian devil out of there. Good luck." He finished. The blonde and the female soldier stepped into the facility as their leader said those last words.

The female soldier pushed the blonde, who was pretending to be absolutely pissed. The soldiers inside the lobby stared at the young man with the tattoo on the left side of his face. His aqua green eyes showed nothing but anger and disbelief. He scanned the faces around him as he yelled.

"This isn't fair. I was just ridin' my motorcycle, I didn't do anythin'; so get ya' fuckin' hands off me." He yelled pulling and pushing the female soldier, trying to break free. The female laughed out loud and pushed him hard enough for him to hit the ground hard. He glared up at her from where he lied.

"You exceeded the speed limit and threatened a soldier for giving you a speeding ticket, so you're not that smart." She said making the other soldiers laugh. She looked at them with a smirk. "Is there a vacant cell for this colorful young man?" The young man started cursing loudly as the one of the soldiers in the room started to look for a free cell on the system, which took him a couple minutes.

"There is one on the fourth floor." He said walking over to the door that led to the cells. "Come with me." He added as he gave them his back. The female pulled the blonde male up and walked behind him. They had to do something about the soldier in order to continue with their mission.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, Square does. The only thing I actually own with the name of said game in the copy I bought. :(

Author's note: I didn't write an author's note last time nor did I write a disclaimer and I won't lie to you….. I completely forgot about it!!!!! I most warn my English isn't perfect and this is actually the first story I've posted in who knows how long I've own this account (never got around it, since my computers have a knack to go nuts when I save the first chapter and erase it). So please be nice.

Chapter 2: _**G E A R S **_

The soldier led them through the halls of the facility. The tattooed man stared at the soldier's back, trying to think of a plan to get the man off their back without causing much of a fuss. They had to get their target out of there first. The young man felt his handcuffs loosened and smirked. In a moment, his female partner in the soldier uniform had his hands free without being noticed by the soldier leading them. The tattooed man got closer to the soldier and knocked him out cold. He grabbed the man before he hit the ground and hid him in a janitor closet.

"Kitty here; what's the target's location?" The female asked keeping watch as her tattooed partner closed the janitor closet door.

"Angel here; our target is located two floors below you in cell number 1062." The female voice responded through the earpiece. The female in the soldier uniform nodded at her partner, who showed her a cardkey he had retrieved from the soldier's unconscious form. They both started to run towards the stairs. Once they reached the cell where their target was being held at. The female in the soldier uniform assumed the lookout position while her partner opened the cell with the cardkey and entered it.

Within the cell there were two men. One of which stared at the young man with indifference while the other had to blink twice, trying to tell himself that he was not seeing things; the latter was in his twenties and had short blonde hair and green eyes. He also had a short beard.

"Zell?" The young man said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here, Chicken-wuss?" He asked with a smirk, staring at the tattooed man's face contort in anger at his remark.

"Shut it, Seifer!" Zell said through gritted teeth.

"Would you guys hurry up?" The female said from outside. Zell groaned and pulled the man from where he was sitting on the ground. They both stepped out of the cell. Seifer stood there, staring straight at the female; a smirk forming on his lips.

"Whoa, Quistis, that uniform doesn't fit you." He said with a chuckle. She looked at Zell and started to walk away. Zell followed her and when Seifer figured he was supposed to follow he ran to catch up with them.

"Kitty here, we have acquired the target." Quistis said with an irritated tone. "We just got him and he's already getting on Wolf's nerves; preparing to launch phase II." She added looking back at Seifer, who smirked proudly. They quickly climbed up the stairs and towards the lobby.

They stopped by the door, took a breath and then barged in. Amidst the confusion one soldier shot another and they could run out unscathed. While Seifer and Quistis boarded the gray van, Zell got on his motorcycle with his helmet on his hands. He watched the van pull away at full speed, leaving behind a cloud of dust. A voice from behind him, a soldier, told him to freeze. He turned to see the few soldier standing there with their guns at the ready. He stared at them for a couple of seconds and smirked wickedly. More soldiers ran out of the facility and moved closer to their official vehicles. In a swift move, Zell put his helmet on and started his motorcycle. He was able to take off before the soldiers started shooting at him, but the soldiers close to the vehicles were able to get on quickly enough to follow him. Since the van was already put of their sight they focused on Zell, who drove all the way to the city.

Seifer was finally able to relax on the van. He stared at Quistis as she removed the soldier's helmet she was wearing, revealing her gorgeous face completely as some bangs fell to frame it. She opened her serene blue eyes and stared at him.

"What?" She asked in her calm tone, to him it was the heavenly sound he thought he was never going to hear again. Only now was he able to ponder on that.

"Nothing, instructor." He replied with a smirk, which slowly disappeared. "Why are you guys doing this? Didn't you guys hate me?" Seifer said quietly staring squarely into Quistis eyes. Quistis averted her eyes.

"Someone order the judge in charge of your case to sentence you to death." The driver said. Seifer looked at the driver only to find Rinoa there. "I learned a lot about your location from my father. He was aware of how unfair it was and warned us about it being so soon. He said he was going to give us the information we needed and that he would buy us sometime, but that if any of us is caught he wouldn't be able to do anything." She explained.

"Okay, but why do it after all I did to you guys, especially to you, Rinoa?" He asked with a frown and a saddened tone. Rinoa smiled sweetly at him, but said nothing. He lowered his head and stared at his feet, trying to find an answer by himself.

"You're one of us." He looked up to stared at Quistis, who still was not looking at him. "We are doing this because you are one of us." She simply said. He felt something stuck on his throat and said nothing else. He was deep in thought; he had done terrible things and they still saw him as a part of them. He had to think on a way to let them know he was really sorry.

"Uh… Teddy bear, here; we have a problem. Sparrow is leaving the nest; I repeat Sparrow is leaving the nest." The cowboy said through the radio. Rinoa frowned.

"Apparently, our time is up." Rinoa said before taking the radio in her hands. "Angel here; we are getting closer to the extraction point. Wolf, hurry up." Rinoa said stepping on it.

Irvine stepped out of the café. It all had been going smoothly up until now. He looked around seriously.

"Teddy bear ready to initiate distraction maneuver _ready2rumble_." The cowboy said through his mouthpiece. "Falcon, Bull; is Showtime."

"FALCON; AFFIRMATIVE." A female replied.

"Bull 'ere, ready for action, y'know?" A male with a deep voice replied. After hearing both voices Irvine suddenly ran to cross the street and a car almost hit him. He turned to the car and hit the hood with his hand.

"What the f*** is wrong with you!!?" The cowboy angrily yelled. From the car a young man with slightly dark skin got off of the car. The man was slightly taller than the cowboy and more muscle-bound. They started to yelled profanities at each other and started to fight. The military man, who was walking out of the hotel stared at the commotion in the middle of the street, blocking his exit.

Quistis was deep in thought. She was not sure of what she was feeling now that she had Seifer in front of her. She looked at him while he just stared out his window into the horizon; his green eyes reflecting the dry landscape. He looked beautiful against the orangey colors of the afternoon sky. She shook her head; she was still on duty, there was no time to ponder on those thoughts.

Rinoa suddenly came to a stop and Seifer frantically looked around. There was absolutely nothing around them. Quistis smirked; he looked so vulnerable without his gunblade, which was at Balamb Garden (after his capture, Squall had gone to retrieve Seifer's gunblade, claiming that the gunblade was an exclusive weapon of Garden and SeeD, and that he did not want a third party to copy it and distribute it around the globe).

"We're here, Sunshine." Rinoa said into her radio. Seifer stared at her as if she was crazy.

"Understood; Angel." The chirpy female replied. There was rumble and out of nowhere Ragnarok materialized right in front of them. Seifer's jaw dropped and Quistis started to laugh at his face. Rinoa looked back and smiled.

"Selphie and Zell installed a stealth feature to Ragnarok for missions that required it." Rinoa explained as Quistis continued to laugh. Seifer was already glaring daggers at her as Rinoa drove up the ramp to the vehicle compartment of the ship. "Angel here; we've reached our destination." Rinoa said through the radio.

Zell drove through Deling City's entrance. Halfway from the district prison to the city the weather had changed and the cold wind hit hard against him as he drove at full speed through the city streets. Due to the date, traffic was slow, but Zell could easily go between the cars, while the soldiers had a little more trouble keeping up with him. Zell took a sharp turn and the soldiers lost sight of him for a moment.

When the soldiers were able to take the same turn they saw the biker waiting at a red stoplight. They quietly got off of their vehicle and neared the man. One of them placed their gun behind the biker's head.

"Don't move and get your hands up." The soldier said. The young man slowly lifted his hands, while another soldier removed his helmet to reveal a full head of dark brown hair. Cold stormy eyes stared into the soldier's. The young man was wearing the same clothes and helmet as their runaway, but he definitely was not the guy and his motorcycle was also different.

"Is there any chance you'll tell me why am I being held at gunpoint?" The young man asked calmly as his gaze pierced through the soldier's very soul. Slowly the soldiers stood away from the young man. The one in front of him stared at the young man's scar, which went from the right side of his forehead to the bridge of his nose.

"We are terribly sorry, sir." One of the soldiers said looking at the young man, who had a not so happy expression on his face. "We were chasing a young man who wore clothes of the same color. We mistook you for him." The young man rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"That proves how well you do your job." The young man said sarcastically while taking the helmet off of the hands of a soldier. "Can I leave now?" He asked a little exasperated. The soldier stuttered and nodded. The young man put his helmet back on and started his motorcycle again. The soldiers looked at each other and started to get themselves together.

Both Irvine and the other man continued to fight, until the man grabbed Irvine and pulled him up over his head. The crowd around them and the military officers gasped as the tall man threw Irvine against his own car, from which a young female emerged as the cowboy slid lifelessly off of the car's hood. The female had her short silver hair falling over the left side of her face and her left eye.

"Oh my… Why did you do that?" She yelled frantically waving her arms around and pointing at the unconscious cowboy on the ground. "Pick him up; we have to take him to a hospital!" She commanded kneeling near the cowboy's head.

"He's started it, y'know?" The man replied only to receive a glare from the female. The man rolled his eyes and picked up the limp cowboy and placed him in the backseat before getting on. People murmured about the events for a couple of minutes, but it soon died down and the officers were finally able to leave the area.

When they were at a safe distance, Irvine sat straight up at the backseat with a chuckle. Raijin was stuck in a fit of laughter and Fujin was actually grinning.

"That was priceless, y'know?" Raijin said between fits of laughter. Irvine smirked and looked at Fujin.

"Yeah, but Fujin really had them eating out of her hands." Irvine said, making her grin be replaced with a blank expression. "Did you ever take any drama classes?" He added mockingly. She turned to look back at him and glared.

"RAGE!" The girl with the silver hair replied. She returned to look forward and pulled open a small compartment in the car and pulled out her eye patch. Irvine chuckled.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you, Fujin." Irvine said while removing his hat. "But I must say; you have really soft and delicate hands." Fujin slightly blushed as she finished placing her eye patch in its rightful place.

"IGNORE." She said angrily folding her arms over her chest. She stared forward as they left the city and headed to the dragon-shaped airship waiting in the fields nearby. As they neared, the ship came into view as it, once again, materialize before them. They were almost home free.

After they reached the airship and boarded they entered the bridge to see Rinoa, Quistis, Seifer and Selphie there. Selphie was kneeling on the pilot seat and looking back, Rinoa was sitting to a side with Angelo lying next to her. Seifer was standing against the wall opposite to Rinoa with Quistis close to him.

Raijin ran up to Seifer and pulled the man into a friendly hug. Seifer chuckled awkwardly as Fujin walked closer to him. Raijin tightened his grip on Seifer.

"Raijin, I know you're happy to see me again, but you're crushing me." Seifer said with a strained voice. Raijin quickly let him go.

"I'm sorry; I just missed you a lot, y'know?" Raijin said scratching the back of his head.

"SORRY." Fujin said staring at Seifer, who just smiled.

"Don't worry; it wasn't your fault, Fuu." Seifer replied extending his hand at her. She smiled back at took it.

At that very moment, Zell walked into the bridge. Upon seeing the man, Selphie sat straight in the pilot seat and started Ragnarok. Zell rapidly moved to the co-pilot seat and put on a headset after removing his earpiece.

"Wolf here; everyone has made it to the designated place. We're waitin' for orders." Zell said pushing some buttons while Selphie typed some codes into the ship's system.

"This is Lion." Squall's voice was heard through the radio. "Head straight to headquarters and give your report." Squall said. "I'll be taking the train as agreed in the briefing." He added.

"Good luck, Lion." Selphie said making Ragnarok get airborne. They flew towards their destination, but they could not help being worried about Squall. He was alone in Deling City; still they knew he was both strong and cautious. They were just being silly.

Author's Note: Sorry, about the tardiness of this chapter. When I was halfway through writing this chapter my computer died and I had to wait up to a week to finally buy one, after I learned my old one was not going to resuscitate. I had t retype the whole chapter. Thankfully, I had written this one at the last pages of a notebook from one of my classes or else I would still be hitting my head against a wall, trying to think what I had written.

Please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters or its places…might as well say I don't own anything. :(

**Author's note: **I got a couple of reviews and I'm incredibly happy about it. They may be very few, but they mean a lot for me, because it means that at least someone is reading it… Yay… Anyways here is another chapter. Enjoy!!!!

**Chapter 3: Balamb Garden**

The train station was packed with people leaving for the holydays. Lines were endless and the people looked tired. Kids were playing around loudly causing their parents and those around to get headaches and that included Squall, who was standing in a line to pay his ticket. He carried his black backpack on his right shoulder and his gunblade case in the other. His train would take him from Deling City to Timber and from there to the newly opened train station at Fisherman's Horizon.

He was deep in thought. Before heading to the train station he made a stop at Caraway's place. The conversation that had taken place still haunted him. He stared at the man in front of him as he pulled his daughter up to carry her. The little girl had big blue eyes and her light brown hair fell softly over her heart-shaped face. She smiled at Squall and waved her little hand at him. He gave her one of his rare smiles and she giggled, shyly hiding her face within the collar of her father's jacket. He ran a hand through his hair and heard some more giggling. He instantly looked at the little girl again, but she pointed to a group of scantily clad teens. He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders at the little girl, who giggled again.

"Are you a girl?" Squall heard a voice and looked down to see a boy with black spiky hair of around four to five years. Squall raised an eyebrow.

"No." He replied, staring down at the boy, who giggled and pointed a finger to his ear.

"You are wearin' an earin'." The boy replied mockingly. "Mommy says that only girls use earin's." The boy was making fun of Squall, laughing out loud obnoxiously.

"Then tell your mommy that it is a normal thing in men to wear nowadays." Squall replied irritated with the boy's attitude. Squall gave the boy a small glare and he ran off to his mother. Squall looked at the little girl again to see she had fallen asleep. She looked like an angel. The line continued to move slowly and once again he was found thinking about what happened at Caraway's mansion.

After several minutes, Squall was able to get his ticket and paid the fee for taking his motorcycle in the cargo car. Once he finally got on the train he went directly to the SeeD car and opened the door. Without even thinking about it, he threw his backpack to the L-shaped couch and put his gunblade case next to the bed, where he let himself fall.

Lying face down on the bed, he reached for a pillow to rest his head on. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep for the longest time, but he knew he would not be able to sleep due to every thought in his head. When he finally gave up, he groaned and got up to where his backpack had landed. He had to start taking a few notes and making a few plans. He started writing immediately. He had to be absolutely prepared for everything.

Balamb Garden was quiet. Most of the students were either gone for the holydays or getting ready to leave; only Rinoa wandered aimlessly through the hallways with Angelo behind her. She was worried, but it was not Squall was she was worried about. Squall and Caraway had been in constant communication for the last two months. She could not understand what those two could talk about so often.

It had all began on that day Squall went to a meeting in Deling City. The commander had arrived back at Balamb Garden with a foul mood, mumbling curses and turning everyone down. Rinoa remembered being yelled at by him; of course he had gone to apologize when he had calmed and held her tightly, something he rarely did. If she had not been as sleepy as she was in that moment she would have sworn he almost cried, but she was really drowsy and that was not him.

Angelo barked, bringing Rinoa back to reality. She looked forward to see Xu walking out of the elevator. Rinoa smiled at the young man as she walked towards her. Xu smiled back.

"The commander called; apparently he will be getting here around 2200 hours and, as soon as morning comes, he wants you and the others in his office for debriefing and to inform and explain something to you guys." Xu said recalling the commander's words. "He said he would call as soon as he made the stop in Timber Station." With that Xu saluted the raven haired girl and continued on her search for the rest of the gang.

Rinoa stood there quietly for a couple of minutes. Something was wrong when Squall wanted to see them so early in the morning and have a discussion; it definitely was a SeeD business. The question was: why was she included? She was not member of SeeD; she took parts in missions with Squall, because he insisted she was suited for the healer role. She was a sorceress; her healing spells were far more effective than those casted by a SeeD like Quistis. Maybe that was it, another mission. She smiled and started to walk again. She was being silly; everything would be perfectly fine.

After two hours of train travel, Squall finally arrived at Timber. Feeling a headache coming, he walked towards a small store to see if they had any aspirin. Walking through the store he walked by two galbadian soldier's; he remained calm; he had nothing to hide for.

"Where's Mayor Grant?" One of the soldiers asked taking a can of beer out of the freezer at the back of the store. Squall was standing close to them, trying to decide if he should take water or juice.

"He went back to Deling. Apparently, they have a search going on; you know, for the escapees from the prison." The other man replied, taking the beer out of the soldier's hand. "I said pick a drink, not a beer; you're on duty." The other man frowned.

"Aaw man; it'll only be one." He pressed, but still the other man shook his head firmly. "Speaking of the escapees; it was that Almasy guy, right?" He asked finally taking a soda from the freezer. Squall took it he had to move; once they noticed his scar it was not going to be pretty. Squall took a grape juice and started to walk away.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" The other said grabbing an ice tea can.

"I've heard some rumors about why they sentenced him to death." The soldier said opening his can of soda. Squall felt curious and decided to listen from the other aisle.

"Really? Like what?" The other soldier said, taking interest in his partner's words. Squall stood on the other aisle, behind the soldiers, and pretended to be checking out the candy bars.

"Like, I heard that he was bait for those people at Balamb Garden. As far as I've heard, the President wanted Balamb Garden to do something against Galbadia and they did." The soldier paused and looked around before continuing. "According to Mayor Grant, the Commander of Balamb Garden rejected an offering from the President, so he's going to get what he wanted by force." Squall frowned; to the clerk it looked like if he was glaring at the chocolate bar in front of him.

"So, the President wants to destroy Garden?" The other soldier said and his partner nodded. "What offer did the Commander rejected?" He asked again. His partner scratched his head.

"Nobody knows, not even Mayor Grant." He replied shrugging. Squall's free hand turned into a fist. In order to avoid looking suspicious he took the chocolate bar he had been glaring at for the past few minutes, paid and left.

He returned to the train and entered the SeeD car. As he did, he angrily threw his backpack against the wall; Balamb Garden was in danger, his friends were in danger… Rinoa was in danger. He wanted to hurry back to Garden and get everything ready. Once again he took his notepad he had been using during the trip from Deling to Timber and started to take more notes.

Seifer quietly walked through the hallways of the Garden he was finally home again. Throughout the time before he gave himself up to the Galbadian army for the crimes he committed, he looked for a place to call his home, but none of those places had whatever made him say Garden was home. As he walked, he saw Rinoa walking with Angelo by her side. She was deep in thought. Seifer smirked and approached her.

"Any word on Squall?" He asked her, bringing her out of her reverie. She smiled at him.

"Yeah, he already reached Timber. He called me a few minutes ago." She said as he smile slowly faded. "Still I can't help but feeling that he's hiding something." She added. Seifer cocked his head to a side.

"Well, he's always hiding stuff." He said thoughtfully. "What exactly do you mean?" He asked leaning against the wall to his right. Angelo sat down next to Rinoa, not taking his eyes off of Seifer.

"It's like… he knows something and whatever it is, it's weighing him down, haunting his every thought." She said looking sad. "Squall keeps bottling everything up and one day it's going to backfire, just like the fact that when he is worried he stays up all night thinking and can't sleep. He thinks he can get away with it unnoticed, but I notice; he's my knight, we have a connection. I feel all that." Rinoa finished with her eyes staring at the floor. Seifer stared at her, deep in thought.

"Once he gets here, tell him that. He'll listen to you and keep it in mind, even if he dismisses it, he ends up thinking about it." Seifer said with a grin. Rinoa looked at him with a confused expression. "Squall and I have always been rivals, still have never really been friends, but we know more about each other than anyone else." Rinoa smiled back and nodded. Seifer looked at his watch. "Well, I gotta go; there's someone I'd like to talk to." He said before starting to walk away. "Don't pressure him; slowly he'll get the idea of how and why to depend on others." He said and walked away. Rinoa smiled and continued to walk. Seifer was right; she just had to be patient.

Seifer walked into the cafeteria in hopes of finding the one person he wanted to talk to. Quickly, scanning the room he saw Quistis at a table at the back of the cafeteria. She had a couple of papers scattered it and a mug of coffee. He quietly approached the table and waited for her to acknowledge his presence. She noticed the shadow of a person towering her and stopped writing to look up at him. She stared at him over her eyeglasses.

"Grading papers?" He asked as he sat down. She nodded with a frustrated sigh. "What's wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"These have to be the dumbest students I have ever had to instruct." She said removing her spectacles to rub her eyes.

"I see." He said scratching the back of his head. "Want me to help?" He asked after several minutes of awkward silence. She stared at him and smiled.

"Thanks, but it's my work." She responded. Seifer smirked; he had known that was going to be her answer.

"Then I'll leave you to your work." He said while getting up again. "Still, I hope you'll join me for dinner tonight." She smiled and nodded at him. He smiled back and walked away, leaving behind a glowing Quistis. She felt happy.

Rinoa decided to stop wandering and had gone to the library. She was reading some more about sorceresses as she had been doing for the last few months. Squall had been reading too. They wanted to be prepared for anything and they wanted to learn more about her powers and abilities. At first Rinoa did not want to, but Squall insisted that she needed to accept what she was and embraced her powers; he told her that no one was comfortable in Garden with a sorceress who had from little to no control over her own powers. He had been the one receiving the complaints of his fellow students and the Garden Council, which was created two months after the Ultimecia ordeal had been complaining about the sorceress residing within Balamb Garden.

There were times in which she thought on how hard it had to be for Squall to deal with his every day ordeal. Every day he woke up to a tight schedule; he was commander of SeeD and sorceress knight, plus he always tried to make some time to read about sorceresses or just listen to her. She smiled; just thinking about him made her smile. He meant the world to her, if not for him she would not be there, in fact she would have died in space. She wondered if she was as important to him as he was to her. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed; there were some things that would never come out of the young man's mouth.

**Author's note: **It took me some time to finish this one. I've been having a lot of work from my teachers… I swear they are plotting my downfall. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to update as fast as I can without killing the story.

Thanks XD


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters and locations… sadly. :(

**Author's note:** I'm thankful for the reviews I have gotten and as soon as I finish the third chapter I started the forth. Plus one of my classes is so boringly slow I can actually get some writing done as he speaks; trust me he _is_ slow. Anyways, enjoy!! XD

**Chapter 4: B R I E F I N G**

Seifer opened his eyes to the knock on his door. Slowly sitting up, he looked at his alarm clock; it read 0530 hours. The knocking was persistent. He groggily got up and stumbled towards the door, cursing on his way. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Xu standing there in her Garden issue pajamas, which was a sleeveless gray top and long navy blue baggy pants and her hair was in loose pigtails, but her face was unchanged as if she had been awake for hours. He rubbed his eyes and leaned against the doorway.

"What brings you here?" Seifer said between yawns. Xu raised an eyebrow not knowing why Squall wanted to see him as well. She just stood there for a couple of seconds, glaring at the man in front of her. He quietly stared at her as her frown deepened. She could not understand how they could let him return just like that. He frowned when she said nothing. "Are you going to say something or are you just going to glare at me all morning?" He said a little more irritated than he had intended to.

"Squall wants you in his office." She said seriously. Seifer looked up to the ceiling and let out a chuckle. "Don't make him wait." She walked away deeper into the male wing of the dorms area. Apparently, she still had to tell the other guys. Seifer stretched his arms and grabbed his white cloak. He also grabbed a pair of black slippers and began to walk towards the elevator.

When Seifer walked into Squall's office, all the females were there. Squall was behind his desk looking at a notepad and rewriting some of the notes on his computer and marking locations. Quistis was sitting on one of the chairs and so was Fujin, who turned to him and nodded. Rinoa was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall to his right, Angelo next to her and Selphie's head on her lap. The usually energetic brunette was still sleepy; she was not a morning person. A few minutes after Seifer's arrival Irvine walked in and went directly to sit next to Rinoa and Selphie. He yawned loudly and leaned closer to Rinoa to touch Selphie's head. Following Irvine's entrance, Zell walked through the door wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts Selphie gave him as a birthday present; it had a cute yellow chicobo right in the front and a speech bubble that said: _pet me_. Seifer stared at the sleepy blonde stagger up to a wall to Quistis left and leaned there with his eyes closed. Seifer stifled a laugh as soon as he got a glimpse of Squall's face when he noticed Zell's boxer shorts; it was a mixture of confusion and disgust.

Raijin was the last one to arrive along with Cid and Edea. The muscle bound man just burst out laughing when he noticed Zell, making Seifer release the laugh he had been holding. Zell scowled and made a million faces to both males as they laughed until Squall stopped them.

"That's enough." Squall yelled, getting everyone's attention. He was not one to lose his temper, but there were more pressing matters. They quieted down and waited for Squall to start talking. "As you all know, our mission to retrieve Seifer was a success, but there are some things in this whole ordeal that you don't know." Squall took a deep breath and looked over at the notes he had written. "Before heading back to Garden I went to have a talk with General Caraway and he was able to confirm some of my thoughts and give me more information." Squall explained. Selphie raised an arm from where she was lying.

"Since when you did you started to get along with anyone outside of Balamb Garden?" Selphie said with her eyes closed and her head still on Rinoa's lap. Squall let out a sigh.

"During a meeting a few months ago, the President of Galbadia he made me an offer I had to refuse. Things got a little heated between the man and me; Caraway interfered and probably saved my life." Squall paused for a moment and ran his hand through his hair. "Since he agreed with me, but had said nothing to the president, he promised to keep me informed about whatever was decided." Squall said, rubbing his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Quistis thought for a second and reacted to what he said.

"What was the offer, Squall?" Quistis spoke while pulling a stray bang of her hair behind her ear. Squall looked at her and looked back down at his notes.

"I will be giving you that information shortly." Squall said, thinking on how to tell such delicate information. "For the past few months there had been some rumors that if they were to be true it could alter the world as we know it." Zell gasped loudly while Quistis and Fujin exchanged worried looks as Squall continued. "These rumors place Balamb Garden as a threat to Galbadia and have been marked down as a target." Selphie quickly sat up and Irvine frowned at what he was hearing. "Seifer's execution was bait to lure us into breaking laws against Galbadia; it was the start of a master plan to eliminate us. Right now, they are free to go public about us and launch a publicity campaign against us." Irvine scratched the back of his head.

"We took the bait… We got Seifer back." Irvine said with a disbelieving tone. Seifer remained serious. Squall softly sighed again as his friends all looked down.

"Usually, I'm not the optimistic one, but if we didn't take that bait, Seifer would have been dead by now." Squall said trying to point out the positive aspect of it all and cheer his friends up a little.

"Are they gonna launch some missiles again?" Zell asked, reliving the fear of having B-Garden almost blow up. Squall looked at Zell and shook his head.

"I don't think they will for three different reasons: number 1, back then their plan backfired when Selphie's party destroyed the missile base; number 2, they are most likely to miss Garden since it is in constant movement and number 3, we have something they want and can't afford to destroy." Squall said, rubbing his eyes again with one hand.

"Is it possible that you can tell us what it is?" Cid asked from where he stood near the door. The others nodded in agreement. Squall nodded.

"Well…" Squall started whilst taking in a big breath. "They want… they want the sorceress." Squall said staring at Rinoa straight in the eye. They all gasped in unison. "They want Rinoa." He added with a glint of sadness in his eyes. "The day of the meeting he offered me an exchange; Rinoa for a position in the world's new order, one he wants to bring. I refused knowing that the world order of which he speaks is nothing but a selfish act on his part and because I'm not about to handover Rinoa." Squall said his voice with a tone of determination. "As to why he wants Rinoa is still a mystery. Caraway can only find out as much with everyone knowing Rinoa is his daughter." Squall got up from his chair and looked at them. "In order to attack Garden and retrieve Rinoa without harming her, they will be forced to attack Garden head on with an enormous amount of soldiers and machinery operated by more soldiers." Squall paused as he placed his map against a wall.

"So what are we gonna do?" Seifer said, standing closer to Quistis's back. Squall looked at him over his shoulder.

"I'm on it." Squall said; as he finished putting some pieces of tape on the corners of the map to hold it against the wall. "Due to the fact that they don't have much choice than a head-on-attack, we have to relocate both Garden and Ragnarok away from every country." Squall said turning to his friends. "If we stay close to any other country while Garden is being observed by Galbadia, they might attack claiming they are sheltering us. This is our fight and I don't want innocent people dying because of this." Squall turned to the map again. "Right now, Ragnarok and Garden are at Fisherman's Horizon, the mayor will freak as soon as he hears of Garden's position. We have fewer options than I had thought. We have _the island closest to hell_, _the island closest to heaven_ and Centra; please give me your opinion." Squall said, showing the locations he mentioned on the map, which were circled with a red marker. Quistis fixed her eyeglasses.

"I suggest Centra; not only because is the most secluded area with lots of space to maneuver and battle, but because the creatures wont pose a threat during the battle." Quistis explained while looking from Zell to Squall to Rinoa and back to Squall. Squall nodded in understanding while Seifer folded his arms across his chest.

"If that's the case, it'll be easier for them to find us." Seifer said, looking down at Quistis, who quickly turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Then what do you suggest, Seifer?" She said with a sarcastic tone. He looked at the map.

"We could hide Garden within a forest." Seifer said. Squall looked at him and shook his head. "Why not?" Seifer asked glaring at the Commander.

"If we hide Garden within a forest and they find us out, they could decide to launch a sneak attack and obliterate us." Squall said, leaning against his seat and rubbing his eyes again. Seifer remained thoughtful. "Those who agree with Quistis idea raise your hand and if you have another idea feel free to share it." Squall said looking around. Slowly they all raised their hands, even Seifer. "Well then it's been decided; both Garden and Ragnarok will be relocated to Centra." Squall said and looked down to his notes again. "We have to go to Esthar; President Loire must be warned about the possibility of an attack for Esthar's close relations with Garden. The team in charge of taking Ragnarok to Centra will be the one to head to Esthar before doing so." Squall got up and looked at Selphie. "Selphie, Irvine, Rinoa and me will head to Esthar in Ragnarok to warn the President. Quistis will take my place as Commander while I'm away, which means you won't be giving your class today. Seifer, Raijin, Fuijin and Zell will go into Fisherman's Horizon and will gather any stray students into Garden before departure in two hours."

"Who the hell could be out there at 0645?" Zell said, stretching and yawning. Squall looked at him and sighed.

"That would be anyone who wants to eat something different for breakfast." Squall said getting up from his seat; Zell groaned. Selphie and Irvine were the first ones out the door, followed by Seifer, Raijin and Fujin. Zell started to walk out. "Zell, if I were you I would consider changing those boxers. I really don't think that is a suitable message for a SeeD to show around." Squall said, getting another groaned from Zell.

Squall looked around his office to see Rinoa still sitting against the wall; she was the only one left. She sadly looked up at him. He slowly walked closer to her and knelt in front of her. He gave her one of his rare smiles.

"Everything is going to be alright." He said, trying to make her smile again while cupping her cheek in his hand. She felt the tears welled up in her eyes and stared directly into his stormy eyes. Those eyes were serene, strong and calm. She wondered how he could remain so cool and unmoved by everything around him. He was determined and confident, maybe a little too confident. She smiled sadly. He got up again and extended his hand at her, which she took and he pulled her up. He turned to grab his notepad and a few other files.

"Squall, if Garden is in danger because I'm here… what if I left or what if I gave myself up to them? Wouldn't it be better..?" She began as he picked up the files, but he suddenly threw them against his desk again and turned back around to face her.

"Don't you dare say something like that again, Rinoa." Squall said, getting closer to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Even if you still don't realize it you are one of us, you became one of us." His voice started to break up a little. He was staring straight into her eyes; his slate colored eyes piercing right through her dark chocolate ones. "I… Even if Garden decides to throw you out or give you up, even if the whole world becomes your enemy… I will be there for you; I'll still be your knight." Her eyes opened wide as those words left his mouth. It was then he finally realized what he said and took a step back while letting go off of her shoulders. Never in his life had he lost control of his action to the extent of saying more than he should. It was not the first time that thought had crossed his mind, but he had never expected to actually say them. She looked at him; he looked as confused as she was. He quickly turned to his desk to pick up the files he had thrown there. Silence ensued for the following minutes. She decided to walk out of the office, but his deep voice stopped her. "Rinoa…" She turned to look at his unmoving form. "I-I meant every word I just said." She felt her heart skip a beat. He had admitted his feelings or at least some of them. He was willing to go against Garden for her; Garden was his whole life, everything he knew and he was willing to leave all that for her sake. She turned to the door again and walked out of the office. Squall remained unmoving for a few minutes, trying to regain some of his composure. He closed his eyes and leaned against his desk. He had to think things through.

**Author's note:** Finally done with chapter 4. I'm writing as well, as fast and as entertaining as I can. Still feel free to review, I accept some constructive critics, but please don't flame me. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, if I did I would be off in my brand new car on my way to the office… but since I don't I'm sitting on the ground at the university writing this chapter of fanfiction. :)

**Authors note:** So my teacher decided to give their barrage of school work for June, the last month of the school year, because they barely gave any work on the other two months. So please, bare with me. I've hardly had enough time to actually check this. Please read &review. Enjoy!

**Chapter 5: The First Phase  
**

Zell yawned for the hundredth time while walking through Fisherman's Horizon (FH) as Squall had ordered. They had split into two teams. Seifer and Zell were surprised at all the amount of students that had gone out of Garden so early. Walking down towards the mayor's house, Seifer looked at Zell.

"Hey chicken-wuss," He said, getting Zell's attention quickly; Zell glared at him. "…ever since I left, who's been sparring with Squall?" Zell stopped glaring and looked up in a thoughtful manner.

"Well, Squall's been sparrin' with Nida." Zell said, recalling a time he had seen both brunettes blade against blade. "Still, Squall told me that, although Nida is quite strong, there is an obvious difference between his skills and Nida's." Zell added, looking forward again. "He even told he had gotten bored of Nida and asked me to teach him some martial arts move." Zell paused to see the look of surprise on Seifer's face. "I tell ya, he can deliver a painful punch with his right arm and he knows how to create a diversion with it to connect with the left one." Zell said while moving around and showing with his arms what he was saying. Seifer looked up.

"Has he been applying what you have shown him to his gunblade technique?" Seifer asked, thinking of the possibilities of Squall broadening his horizons and improving his almost unbeatable gunblade technique. Zell nodded.

"Somewhat, his movements are faster and he's actually holdin' his gunblade with one hand. I actually saw him plant a heavy fist in a T-Rexaur's face while holdin' his gunblade against its teeth." Zell said with a laugh; even the T-Rexaur had a confused look on its face that day. Zell turned a little serious. "Squall… he's really trying to get stronger, but sometimes… I could almost swear that I hear him cry every night." Zell said looking down. Seifer turned to him.

"Explain." Seifer said. Zell looked up at him and back at the floor; not a word left his mouth. "Zell, I'm not planning to fuck Squall up with what you're saying… I just want to know if there's something I can do for him. He's Rinoa's knight and I was Ultimecia's knight; she was an experienced sorceress and I'm sure that I can help him with the knowledge I received from her." Seifer said; his voice sounding truly sincere.

"Squall's room is right across from mine; I get to mine pretty late and I can almost hear him cryin'." Zell said with a sad expression on his face. "At first, I dismissed it and decided that it came from another dorm, but I kept hearin' it and I was convinced that it came from his dorm." Zell turned to him. "What's worst, the cryin' began shortly after we defeated Ultimecia. Somethin' must've happen to him durin' time compression." Zell added with a concerned look.

"Have you asked him about it?" Seifer asked and Zell shook his head.

"With me bein' the way I am…. I can't ask him; I might make it worst." Zell said with a sad smile. "That's why I do my best everyday to ease his mind. That is my personal mission; to be there when he needs me." He added with a determined look. Seifer nodded.

"That's the kind of loyalty he needs." Seifer said softly. "We need to get our priorities check, Zell." Seifer said, making Zell look at him with a questioning look. Seifer looked back at him. "Galbadia wants something with Rinoa, he is her knight; he can't let that happen. I have the feeling that we will have to make a choice; decide who we follow…" Seifer added and spotted a few students walking out of a café; he pointed in their direction. "There are some students." He said. Zell nodded and they ran to the students. Seifer's words carved themselves on Zell's mind; Seifer was probably unto something.

Somewhere else a man wearing a white cloak with a hood walked through the gray halls of a building. The polished walls and floor reflected the man's figure and his footsteps echoed throughout the air. From his hip hung a thin belt, which held two small round bottles with some red and black liquids on them. A big hammer-like weapon rested against the man's back and only the wicked smirked he wore could be seen on his face.

He opened two huge black doors at the end of the hall to reveal a huge room with red velvet curtains surrounding the walls. At the far end a four posts bed could be seen and the silhouette of two people could be seen through the thin almost see-through curtains hanging from the four posts with the help of the little light a single candle provided. The man in the white robe stood there and waited to be noticed. One of the figures moved out of the bed and walked towards the door, where the robed man was. It was a beautiful young woman with gray hair and a gorgeous body. She walked passed him wearing nothing, but the sheet around her naked body. The figure on the bed was a man. He clapped twice and the room lit up.

The man was in his mid-forties with grayish blonde hair that reached a little lower than his jaw in length. His hazel eyes could pierce through an iceberg and his five o' clock shadow beard made him look mature yet sexy in a mysterious way. He had the well formed body of a younger man in his mid-twenties and the confidence only years of experience could provide. Looking at the robed man, he chuckled lightly at the look he had on his face. The robed man got closer to him and spoke.

"Mr. President, preparations for the ceremony have been prepared again." He said seriously, trying to ignore the fact that he had seen the naked girl leave. The president looked at him with a questioning look.

"Why isn't it working?" He said, getting up from his bed and taking a bath robe that was lying on the floor; he was also naked.

"We are not entirely sure, sir, but it probably has to do that we're not using the original specimen." The robed man said. "Maybe when we finally get our hands on it, it will work." He added getting a hold of the bottle with the red liquid hanging from his belt. "Once we give the subject a taste of this liquid we will bring forth the world we want to create; you will have absolute power over every creature and human being." The robed-man said. The president chuckled and turned to the candle next to him.

"It's so close I can almost feel it." He said as his eyes turned a faint yellowish green. Then they both laughed out loud. The robed-man walked out of the room to see the woman that had left the room earlier was lying on the ground bleeding profusely, but her hair was not silver colored anymore; it was blonde. He squatted near her and brushed strands of her hair away from her face. With a wicked smirk, he whispered some words and the woman screamed as her body slowly dissolved into thin air. Her scream echoed through the hallways and into every room. He began to walk away as her screaming faded and her body completely disappeared.

Squall was looking out through Ragnarok's window. He was leaning against the back wall of the bridge. Esthar could be seen in the distance. The city was glistening under the morning sun; it was a gorgeous and radiant sight. He heard Rinoa's soft gasp as she walked over to stand behind Selphie and next to Irvine to look at the city. Her skin looked as if it were glowing with the morning light reflecting gently on it. He heard both her and Selphie awing and giggling at the sight. He also heard Irvine chuckling and telling the girls he liked their eyes better. Squall shook his head with his eyes closed, but when Rinoa giggled again and he opened his eyes he was caught off guard. Irvine was right. The mixed reflection of both the sunlight and the bluish reflected light the city provided made her eyes look mysteriously beautiful; more beautiful than he ever thought possible. He shook his head and walked closer to them.

"Selphie, land at the air station." Squall said. Selphie nodded and did as she was told. Once outside the airship, Squall started to walk towards his destination; the Esthar Presidential Palace. He was just going to give them the warning and then he would leave, although he had some unfinished business with the president; business he did not want to take care of.

**Author's note:** Again, sorry for having you wait. Teachers had it against me, especially that guy from that text redacting class. I've never felt so miserable in my life; I tell you that man hates me. Anyways, feel free to review, still be nice; my head is still a mess of thoughts, school work, my mom's antics and the fact that I have abandoned my own social and love life because of school. So it may take a week or two before the next update, unless I feel unbelievably inspired and have nothing to do. Later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy VIII nor its characters and locations; this is merely a hobby and way to waste time when I feel bored… which is all the time. XD

**Author's Note: **So yeah, I'm going closer to the whole plot of this story. For the next two months I'll be updating more frequently, since there is nothing that can stop me from writing (a.k.a. no school work). I originally had another idea, but as I write another idea popped into my head and I have given the original story, which was written in my notebook, a twist. I started working on it in the last chapter (Chapter 5) and I will go with it all the way to the end. I also want you to forgive me if Squall seems a little out of character in some scenes; although he is one of my favorite characters I can't really portray the cold/mean part of his personality, I can only portray his military/serious part. But I'm still trying my best to do so; I'm replaying the game and studying his lines in a script I wrote of every single line spoken on the game. I really want to get it right. Man, I really left myself go this time. Anyways, please read &review. Enjoy!!! XD

**Chapter 6: Strictly Business **

They stared at the majestic building in front of them; it was the Esthar Presidential Palace. Aides and other people walked in and out of the building, passing by them and talking about trivial things. Squall walked towards the aide and the entrance. He explained why he was there and they were all taken to the waiting room. Rinoa and Selphie sat on the couch and Angelo lied by their feet. Irvine stood by the window and looked out to the city. Squall was just leaning against the wall close to the door. The aide had gone to tell the president that they were there.

Squall stared at Rinoa; she was giggling with Selphie once again, but this time he did not know why. His serious expression turned into one of sorrow or even pain. He turned to look away and found himself staring into indigo colored eyes; he was face to face with Irvine, who took a step back. Squall's serious expression was back with a glare. Irvine just grinned.

"Are you alright, man?" The cowboy asked removing his hat. Squall stared at him for a second or two before nodding.

"I'm fine; just had a bad trip from Timber to FH." Squall said, closing his eyes and making a dismissive gesture with his hand. Although, it was not what he was thinking at the moment it was true; it had been hell trying to get some rest during the trip, especially with all his thoughts keeping him awake. Irvine stared at him disbelievingly; there had to be more.

"Are you sure?" The cowboy insisted, but, to his dislike, Squall nodded. "Look, I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to I'm willing to listen and I'm sure that so is Zell. Just keep that in mind." Irvine said walking towards the window again. Squall stared at him for a moment. The cowboy had seen through him and knew something was wrong; but Squall could not tell him what it was. He looked at Rinoa again. His face contorted into one of pain again. At that moment the aide walked in and he recovered. He turned to the man in the white robe with green and blue lines. The man looked at him.

"The President will be seeing you now." He said. Irvine and the two girls started to move to accompany Squall, but he turned around.

"You stay here." Squall said, looking at them straight in the eyes. "I'm just going to inform him and we're off." Squall said, turning his back to leave. Rinoa got closer to him.

"Then there is no problem for us to go with you." She said, trying to convince him.

"There is no need for all of us to go in." Squall said and resumed his walk. Rinoa pouted and turned around to face Irvine and Selphie.

"Why is he always like that?" She said walking towards the couch and sitting there with her arms folded across her chest and her legs crossed. Selphie sat next to her and hugged her. Irvine just stared at Squall's retreating form. Something was bugging the commander and whatever it was, was huge.

Squall opened the double doors that led into the presidential office. At the far end of the room a huge oak desk could be seen and sitting behind it was the president. A lot of papers were piled up there and some others were scattered on its surface, covering most of the oak. File cabinets surrounded the walls and only the window behind the desk was free of clutter; it was also the only source of natural light. Squall stepped in and closed the door behind him. At the sound of the door closing, Laguna looked up from the documents he was reading to see Squall standing there. Laguna stood up from his chair and opened his mouth to speak, but Squall beat him to it.

"I believe you already know the President of Galbadia and his intensions with our world." Squall said seriously. Laguna sat down again with a sad expression on his face and nodded as a response. "An attack to Balamb Garden is most likely to happen sometime soon and it would be wise if Esthar stayed out of it and prepared for an attack as well." Squall paused; Laguna had a worried expression on his face. "It is possible that in order to beat Garden they decide to attack Esthar first, but up until now, Garden has been and is their main priority, for we have something they want. They might leave Esthar alone." Squall finished. Laguna ran a hand through his hair and then looked at Squall.

"We should fight together, Esthar can protect Garden and…" Laguna began, but Squall cut him off.

"Balamb Garden will fight alone. This is our fight and we won't have any country involved in it." Squall said with a little irritated tone. "There are many reasons for which Esthar should remain out of it." Squall said with a frown. "One of them being the fact that Balamb Garden cannot enter the estharian territory and if Esthar decided to send the army to where Garden is, there is no telling of what will happen to the unprotected city. Many civilians will die if Esthar makes that choice, which is precisely what Garden wants to avoid." Squall paused to take a deep breath. "This is still just a rumor, so upon confirmation Garden will send a notification to you. Esthar's participation will be limited to its own defense." He added. Laguna frowned at Squall's decision of not receiving help.

"Squall, accept Esthar's help; you will be outnumbered." Laguna insisted. Squall shook his head with a deeper frown than the usual. "Esthar will help Garden, that way we may end the war before it really starts." Squall walked towards the desk and put his hands on it, leaning closer to Laguna.

"You are the president of Esthar, you're priority is your people not Garden; that is my priority. If you send your army, I will feel responsible for their lives and the lives of the people who die in this city. Stay out of it." Squall said the last part was more of a warning. Laguna turned sad again; Squall was pushing him away.

"You're still angry, right?" Laguna asked to which he received no answer. Squall straightened his body and glare at the man.

"The commander of Balamb Garden has nothing against you or your city, but Squall Leonhart does not want anything to do with you; so let's keep it strictly to business." Squall said in a military manner. Laguna lowered his head.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Laguna said with a sigh and a sad expression, but he changed his expression to a neutral one. "Esthar will act accordingly; the city's defense is our main priority and we will stay out of Balamb Garden's battle." Laguna said before looking up at Squall. "Is there anything else?" Laguna asked; he wanted a moment to be alone.

"That is all." Squall said turning around to leave. Laguna stood up.

"Good luck, Commander Leonhart." Laguna said quietly. Squall looked at him over his shoulder and resumed his walk out of the office. Laguna sat down again and sighed while rubbing his eyes; things were not going to get better between them. He turned to look out the window as a single tear ran down his face.

Squall walked through the hallway with a deep frown dominating his face. As if he did not have enough problems already to deal with Laguna. He slowed down and looked out through the glass walls of the hallway. The sun was already quite high in the sky, it still was not noon. He knew he had to start thinking on a battle strategy with Quistis and a couple of other high members of Balamb Garden. Squall sighed and resumed his walk. Things were going to get worst; he was going to be forced to fight again. He was going to be responsible for many deaths. He had to do something. He reached the door to the waiting room and recovered his composure before walking in. His three companions looked at him.

"What happened?" Irvine asked, walking closer to Squall followed by Rinoa and Selphie.

"Esthar will act accordingly; solely focusing on its defense or so we agreed." Squall said, running a hand through his hair. Irvine nodded.

"Let's hope they keep that agreement." Irvine said, putting his hat on his head again. Selphie nodded, but Rinoa said nothing. Squall felt slightly worried about it, it could only mean one thing; she was angry at him for what he said a while before.

"Let's go." Squall said turning to walk away. They all followed, including Angelo. The walk out of the palace was too quiet and Squall was feeling uneasy. He turned around and looked at Rinoa's serious face. They all stopped walking. "Irvine, you and Selphie go ahead; we'll catch up. Make sure to be ready for take-off." He said, not taking his eyes off of Rinoa. Irvine nodded and took Selphie's hand, before walking away. Rinoa tried to walk passed him, but he grabbed her arm, gently but firmly. "I didn't mean to leave you guys out like I did, but I… there is something I don't want you guys to know, something I'm still trying to accept myself." He explained.

"No, you always do that when we come to Esthar, Squall." She said a little exasperated. She turned to face him. "Why do you do it?" She said. Squall just stared at her with a blank expression. "Squall, speak to me." She said softly. Squall just stared at her for a couple of seconds, before he embraced her. She was caught off guard.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to change that, but it's not that easy; I've been like this my whole life." He said slowly breaking the embrace and locking eyes with her. "There are some things I have to deal with and accept before I let you guys in. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Sorry; I overreacted." She said, doing a cute pout and feigning innocence. He nodded and they began walking towards the air station. She looked at him. "What are we going to do when we reach Centra?" Squall looked at her for a few seconds before responding.

"We must prepare a battle plan for when the time comes." Squall's reply came. He looked up at the sky. "I think that any student that doesn't want to be involved is released for the time being and that includes the junior classmen." Squall added. Rinoa thought about it and it made sense; the junior classmen had been sitting ducks during the Galbadia/Balamb Gardens battle. Squall and some other SeeDs protected them. She nodded in agreement. Things were going to get rough and those kids were a little too young to die fighting. Any other SeeD that did not think that it was their battle to fight would have the chance to walk away and return later if Garden remained. It was going to be their choice, but the question is how many would stay by Squall's side to battle?

**Author's Note:** So there you have the sixth chapter… I'm writing as it comes. Some scenes I have written on a notebook others I don't, but they're turning out quite good. Still, remember that your review is _**very**_important; with it I can tell if I'm on the right track or if I'm just way off. XD


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters and locations; if I did I would be lying down in my private island with a _piña colada_ in my hand.

**Author's Note:** I need you guy to read this one well. I'm just writing as I go now and I'm getting a little worried as to where this story is going. I think my idea is good, but I don't know what you guys are going to say about it. In order to not leave any spoilers here, read the Author's Note at the end of this chapter. Read & Review, please!! X)

**Chapter 7: His eternal struggle**

_Selphie hit Ultimecia with her oversized nunchuks, making her bend over in pain. Her body was bruised, cut and battered. Her arms close to her chest and blood was all over. Selphie's knees were bruised and as soon as she finished her attack she knelt down next to Squall, who was bleeding a little by the corner of his mouth. Next to Squall was Irvine, who had a nasty cut on his leg; Griever had tried to slash Selphie and he had stepped in the way receiving the full force of the hit. Irvine shot Ultimecia again for the hundredth time. Ultimecia let out an eerie scream as the shot went through her right shoulder blade. She shook in pain and raised her hand casting an Ultima spell at Irvine. _

"_Reflect on your... Childhood..." Ultimecia said as the spell consumed Irvine's figure within the green explosion; her voice coming from nowhere and from everywhere. Squall covered his eyes from the spell's glow while Selphie screamed Irvine's name. The spell slowly dissipated and Irvine was gasping for air; he was pushing himself up with his hands, his shotgun near his right hand. He was supporting his lower body with his good leg, leaving the other limp. Squall jumped at her, hitting her with his gunblade, but only used Renzokuken on her. "Your sensation… Your words… Your emotions…" She said after Squall retreated back to his place between Selphie and Irvine. Selphie prepared her Slots limit break. Concentrating her little energy she had and used a Full-cure X3. Blue and green lights surrounded the three of them, releasing the pain from inside their bodies. Irvine slowly got up and took a hold of his shotgun. Ultimecia spoke again. "Time… It will not wait…" She said preparing a Firaga and firing it at Selphie, who used her arms to shield her face. Irvine tried to reach her, but fell in the process and the fireball hit her. Squall ran up to her blindingly through the smoke. He lowered his body touching the ground until he found her arm. He got her up and pulled her out of the smoke. Irvine let out a sigh of relief and prepared his limit break; he looked at his stock of ammo and looked up at Squall, who was helping Selphie stand upright. _

"_I'm out of pulse ammo!!" Irvine yelled putting the last rounds on his shotgun. Squall looks over to him. _

"_How many do you have left?" Squall said as Selphie finally stood with slight burns on her arms, her big green eyes were teary. Irvine aimed._

"_Just these two, but I have other ammo." Irvine said shooting Ultimecia again with hyper shot. Ultimecia writhed in pain again._

"_No matter… … how hard you hold on. It escapes you…" Ultimecia said and threw a thundaga at Squall, who got ready to receive it; closing his eyes shut and holding his gunblade tightly. When a few seconds passed and he felt no pain, he opened his eyes to see Irvine fall forward with smoke coming from him. Squall reached out, but Irvine's body disappeared. Selphie let out a squeal. Squall turned to Selphie. In a matter of second, Selphie lost everything that made her look angelic as she glared at Ultimecia and began to glow._

"_I'll kill you bitch!!!" Selphie yelled. Squall tried to grab her as she ran passed him. She used the Kamikaze ability on Ultimecia. Squall tried to reach her body, but it also disappeared. Squall screamed at the top of his lungs. He lost everyone, even Rinoa to Ultimecia, the little angel-thing had taken them all to another dimension in which they were Ultimecia's slaves. _

"_And…" Ultimecia continued to speak, but was cut off by the barrage of slashes Squall was delivering through Renzokuken. He had to kill Ultimecia; only that way would the others return to their time and dimension. When he was done with Renzokuken, he jumped back and began to glow; the golden light surrounding his whole body. He charged at Ultimecia, hitting her again and again with Lionheart. Her eerie scream filled the air around him. Once Squall finished, he jumped away from her and looked at her as her body began to fall into nothing. Ultimecia's true form was awful, but he looked down at her human body dangling upside down. She finally opened her eyes, they were brown and she just smiled at him as her body disappeared into the blackness of their surroundings. He thought it was weird that she smiled if she had gotten killed. She just smiled happily. _

_Squall walked through the desert like landscape, tired, thirst, hurt… His whole body was in pain. He suddenly reached an endless cliff and when he turned around he found the he was in a small island; there was not a large desert behind him. His legs betrayed him and he fell down, sitting on the floor with his head down. He looked up, wishing to scream at the top of his lungs; he was alone. As he looked up, he saw a feather slowly falling towards him. He reached out to grab it and his surrounding changed. Rinoa was standing there. He quickly got up. _

"_Rinoa!" He called out, but there was no response from her; she did not even move. He turned worried, she was not like that. "Rinoa?" He said again. She finally turned to him with a smile, but her whole face was a blur; distorted in a way that her features were barely recognizable. Squall gasped and right before his eyes many images of her appeared, but her face was always distorted. Her features even mixed up with Ultimecia's at one point. Then he saw it, the truth; Ultimecia's truth. Followed by the image of Rinoa's helmet broken in outer space. _

Squall woke up in the middle of the night screaming with sweat covering his body. Sitting up on his bed he sobbed quietly. He moved both hands to his head running them through his soaked hair and then moved one down to his aching heart. He was having the same nightmare every night and sometimes he wished he had died with the ice Edea had thrown at him when _she_ was controlling her. He lied back down on his side in a fetal position, crying alone and wishing to sleep and never wake up again; wishing to find a way to save her.

Zell walked towards his door and opened the door, when he heard Squall crying once again. He turned to Squall's door and for a moment he thought on knocking, but he knew Squall would not open the door and if he did, he would deny everything. He just lowered his head with sadness dominating his expression and entered his dorm quietly.

**Author's Note:** First of all, I never believed the Rinoa/Ultimecia theory and I know it has been disproven, but this popped into my head and I won't be able to write anything else until I get it out of my system, plus it doesn't hurt to write this. I truly hope I haven't discouraged you from reading it, but I just have to write this if I want to write something else. Sorry. Anyways next chapter will be done in a few days; if not tomorrow (I'm on a roll). Please leave your comments; this time I beg you!!! X)


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters and locations.

**Author's Note: **I'm really sorry it took so long, but I'm having a serious case of creative blockage that does not even allow me to make a nice drawing. In fact, I can't even concentrate in reading or even playing a game. But don't worry, I'm not abandoning this project; I'm just going to put it in hold in order to maintain the story good and not rushed as I'm sure you'll think this chapter is, because I do think it is. So please stay with me!! Enjoy your reading.

**Chapter 8: Decisions **

Several days had passed since Balamb Garden and Ragnarok arrived at Centra. Very little information had been heard from Galbadia's movements and everyone was feeling uneasy. Squall was at the second floor deck, staring out into the horizon. He sighed; after they defeated Ultimecia he had thought that things were finally going to be as they had always been with minor changes, of course, and yet there he was waiting for Galbadia to attack if they really meant to.

"A penny for your thoughts." Squall turned around to see Rinoa standing there with her hands behind her back and a pretty smile on her face. Squall gave her a rare smile and gesture her to stand next to him. She complied. They remained quiet for a couple of minutes, until she spoke again. "So, what's on your mind?" She asked, making him look at her.

"I just wish that our moments of peace were longer." He said with a longing expression. Rinoa smiled sadly. "Just months ago we were fighting and now we'll have to fight again; it doesn't seem fair to everyone." She got closer and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know, but it's not your fault, Squall. We all know and understand that." She said linking her arm with his. Times alone with him were a rarity.

"You guys do, because you're my friends, but I don't think everyone else does." Squall said, leaning his head against hers. "And I don't want to be responsible for any deaths." Squall added. She ran her hand up and down his arm in a comforting manner. "I also want to protect you, but sometimes I wonder if I'm strong enough." He looked down at her and she looked slightly up. "I don't want to be away from you, Rin." She smiled.

"Squall, you're strong; think of it this way, you're not only strong alone, but you have all of us to make you stronger." She paused and straightened her neck to stare directly into his stormy eyes. "And I won't leave you; even if I'm not there, my heart and soul will." She said, making one of his eyebrows shoot up.

"Wow; that was a huge cliché." He said with a chuckle. She glared at him in mock anger while stifling a laugh.

"Go ahead and laugh at me, Leonhart. It's gonna cost you." She said, slapping his arm softly. He smiled at her. He pulled a band of her hair behind her ear in a way it sent chills up and down her spine. With the same movement he placed his hand behind her neck and slowly pulled her in for a gentle kiss. No matter how many times he kissed her, it felt as magical as the first time. He was sweet and gentle, yet passionate and fiery. They moved closer to each other. He maintained his hand behind her neck and moved the other to the small of her back while her hands rested against his chest.

"Whoa!!!" They heard from behind, making them jump up in their place. Squall seriously turned to the entrance to see Zell giving his back to them. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he sighed.

"What is it, Zell?" Squall asked with a slight blush on his face. Rinoa giggled; it was a wonder why it was always Zell the one to walk in on them. Zell turned around with an apologetic expression on his face and scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I'm sorry, Squall, but the Headmaster wants to see ya. He said it was important." Zell said still feeling embarrassed about walking in on them. Squall nodded and turned to Rinoa.

"I'll see you once I'm done." He said. Rinoa smiled and nodded happily. Squall walked towards the door and left. Zell looked at Rinoa.

"I'm really sorry." He insisted. She dismissed his apology and turned to look out into the horizon. "Have you ever thought about what would've been of us if Ultimecia hadn't tried to achieve time compression?" He said thoughtfully. She laughed.

"I wouldn't be here and Squall would still be his old self." She said with a laugh. Zell laughed out loud.

"You can say that again." Zell laughed. "You know, I wouldn't have it any other way." Zell said standing next to her. "If I were to die now I would be happy and if I were to live my life again and had the chance to change something… I wouldn't change anything; I would have it be just like it had been up until now." He said with a smile. She smiled as well.

"Yeah, I would do the same." She said looking out at the sky. The gorgeously blue color of the sky promised to be a wonderful day.

Squall walked out of the elevator as two female students and a male walked passed him, all the while giving him some mean looks. Squall frowned; something was wrong with those students. Squall heard Seifer's voice as he neared Cid's office; he sounded agitated, apparently was angry about something. As Squall opened the door, Seifer got quiet and was looking straight up at the commander. The headmaster sighed.

"Seifer, please wait outside." The man spoke calmly. Seifer gave him an exasperated look. "Please." Cid repeated more firmly. Seifer scoffed and walked out of the office slamming the door behind him. Squall stared at the door over his shoulder for a couple of seconds; something must have bothered Seifer for him to react like that. "Squall, take a seat." Squall turned to Cid and sat across the man's desk.

"Why did you call me, sir?" Squall said, successfully hiding the worry within him. Cid scratched the back of his head; what he had to say was not easy.

"There has always been a large amount of students that doesn't feel comfortable with the sorceress living among us and they have expressed their feelings and worries about you being the knight." Cid began. Squall leaned back against his seat and folded his arms across his chest.

"What worries?" Squall asked, having an idea as to why. Cid looked down at the file in front of him.

"They fear the sorceress might start controlling you to use Garden at her will." Cid said and Squall was looking outraged. "I know I can trust both you and Rinoa, but I can't make them understand that. They don't want to be involved in this fight against Galbadia, much less under your command for the sorceress." Cid said with a tinge of regret on his voice. Squall turned his head to a side and remained silent for a minute.

"If that's what they want." Squall started saying while getting up from his seat. "I resign and Rinoa and I will be leaving Garden immediately. Ragnarok was found and brought here by me, so I will be taking it." Squall said, masking the sadness he felt. All his life had been flowing around Garden, his home, and now he was going to leave, because some students could not trust the one woman he had ever loved. "Still I wish you and the Garden a long life." Squall paused for a second. "Is that all?" Cid looked at him with watery eyes and a quivering lower lip. The elder man nodded and Squall turned around and left the tiny office.

Seifer turned to the door as it opened. Squall came out and closed it behind him. He stared at Seifer. The blonde had a sad expression on his face. Squall just began to walk towards the elevator. That alone told Seifer what Squall had decided. He looked at the door to Cid's office and frowned deeply. Squall was going to leave Garden.

Rinoa walked by the door to the second floor classroom. She had a smile as she walked through the hallway. She accidentally bumped into a couple of girls when she took the turn towards the elevator. She smiled apologetically, but the two girls just looked at her in a mean way. Rinoa looked at them with a confused expression and turned to the elevator to see Squall walking out of it; his face was a mixture of pain, anger and confusion.

"Rinoa, we need to talk…" Squall said softly, getting a hold of her hand and gently pulling her into the elevator. She got worried; she had never seen Squall with that expression. Whatever he was going to say was going to change her life, she was sure of it.

**Haku X)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, its characters or locations. :( But I do have fun doing this. XD

**Author's note: **So Seifer somehow got me inspired again; he popped right into my head, making me wonder how the hell he does that. I thought that it would be nice to have Seifer do what he does here. Can't really picture this chapter with any other character; specially, because I believe that, even when they are rivals, Squall and Seifer have this strange connection that allows them to understand each other. If it had not been for that connection, I believe, Squall would have killed Seifer if he wanted; I mean, he had the chance several times, yet he never did. At the beginning of the game even Zell notices this and here is the dialogue of the scene I just mentioned.

(Squall: _"I stand by the captain's decision."_

Seifer: _"...Captain's decision? You want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?"_

Squall: _"It's a good opportunity to test out my training. Thanks to you, I feel like I can take on  
anyone. Even if they do fight dirty, like you."_

Seifer: _"You'll thank me when the time comes."_

Zell: _"What the hell...I thought you guys didn't get along? You're like, all buddy-buddy now_.)

So although they don't admit it, Squall and Seifer don't hate each other, it's the complete opposite, they respect each other and admire the other's qualities. My, my… look at me ramble… sorry about that. Please read &review and enjoy your reading.

**Chapter 9: Signs of Rebellion**

Seifer stomped his way out of the elevator. After Squall left Cid's office, Seifer had walked in to continuing the discussion they were having before Squall had arrived. He was fuming, angry, completely and absolutely outraged; never in his life the thought of Squall actually leaving Garden had crossed his mind. Squall out of Garden was seriously threatening the balance of things according to how Seifer saw it.

Kicking the door open, Seifer stormed into the cafeteria, muttering some profanities as he passed a group of students. He walked over to where Quistis had been sitting with the "Trepies" around her and extended his hand in front of her, startling.

"You're coming with me." He commanded, staring straight into her blue eyes. She grabbed his hand only to be pulled and practically dragged out of the cafeteria by Seifer. Once they reached the hallway she pulled her hand out of Seifer's grasp.

"What is wrong with you?" Quistis asked, pulling a stray bang behind her ear. Seifer turned to her; anger written over her features. He started pacing back and forth as he spoke.

"Squall is leaving Garden." He began, making a loud gasp escape Quistis' lips as she looked both surprised and concerned. "Remember that anti-sorceress movement within the students you mentioned?" He asked her and she nodded. "Well, they went to Cid and gave him and ultimatum and Cid told Squall. Squall felt responsible and decided to do as they said. He is probably telling Rinoa they're gonna leave. We have to do something." Seifer said and looked at her again. "We got to convince Squall to at least stay as a regular SeeD. This place is the only place he can call home; he lives for this place." He added while extending his arms to the sides as if showing her Squall's home. Quistis nodded.

"I agree, but even if he stays, the lingering thought that some of the people around you want you away is gonna be there. We can't hide the anti-sorceress movement from them forever." Quistis said looking down at the ground. Seifer took a deep breath.

"Quistis, maybe is time for Rinoa and Squall to feel the pressure of her being a sorceress and him being a knight; they have to become stronger if they wish to live in this world. Besides, I think that with the current situation Squall already knows." Seifer said with a sad expression. "You know; if you keep overprotecting them like this she won't become strong enough to control herself when the time comes. She might lose her sanity over her powers; that darkness within her will surface and both Squall and Rinoa will end up hurt or worst… dead." Seifer added while running a hand through his short blonde hair. Quistis stared at his intense green eyes.

"I guess you're right, but how do we convice him?" She asked walking closer to Seifer until there were three feet between them. He looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't know, but we'll think of something." He looked down at her when his head hatched an idea. "First we need to find a sizeable group of SeeDs that don't want Squall out of Garden, no matter what. We need to show them that there are people who like Rinoa, who trust her, who believe in her. Only that way, we might convince him to stay." She raised an eyebrow.

"We might? You don't sound so sure." She said. He shrugged.

"Squall isn't that predictable anymore." Seifer said and started to walk. She caught up with him and they both walked side-by-side towards the Quad.

Meanwhile, Squall was almost done packing his things; he did not have much to pack though. He could not find the heart to tell Rinoa that the students did not trust her, but he did tell her that they had to leave Garden. He had to think on how he was going to tell her how the students felt. He finished packing the last of his clothes and closed the case. He turned to his desk and began placing the things on top of it inside a box. He grabbed a picture of him and his friends. He did not look very happy in the picture and remembered declining Selphie's plea for him to pose properly. He felt his heart starting to hurt; he was not only leaving Garden, he was leaving the people he had grown close to.

His mind wandered off back to how he was going to tell Rinoa why they were leaving. He knew it was going to break her heart, but she had to know why; he was not about to lie to her. He could almost picture the heartbreak written all over her angelic features, the tears staining her flawless skin and her sob tearing out his own heart. He shot his eyes closed and shook his head trying not to think about it anymore when a knock pulled him out of his reverie. He slowly turned to the door, trying to think who it could be. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"What is it?" He said calmly in the way only Squall Leonhart could, hiding his real emotions. A familiar voice was heard through the door; one that almost matched Squall's feigned serenity.

"It's me; Seifer." The blonde replied from the other side of the door. Squall just stared at the door, unmoving. "Look, Squall… I know we've had our differences in the past and… I don't know what you really think of me now, but… this is not the way I see things unfold. I see them differently." Seifer added, when Squall did not open the door. "Squall; I'm calling you out. I have to speak my mind to you, if you're really leaving." Seifer said with his voice filled with determination; Squall did not move. "Open this door and face me like a man." Seifer demanded when he found himself with the door still solid shut before him. "You either open up or I'll take it down." Seifer threatened and as soon as he finished his sentence he heard soft steps approaching the door, followed by the click of the locking system. The door opened and out stepped the smaller brunette.

"What do you want?" Squall spat trying to sound indifferent at the fact he was leaving. Seifer looked down at him straight in the eye.

"I don't see you leaving like this." Seifer began with a firm tone of voice. "In fact, I don't see you leaving at all. Whenever I try to picture you out of here I get a serious headache and you know what I do see? I see a sixty-something Squall Leonhart walking around Garden and carrying his gunblade. That is who you are." Squall turned his face away. "I can't imagine Garden without your leadership. You brought Garden this far and… who knows. Garden would have probably fallen when the Galbadian army used Galbadia Garden to attack this Garden, if it hadn't been for you and you're still willing to leave without a fight." Squall looked back at Seifer. "That is not the Squall I know. The Squall I know always reacted to bullying, he always fought back, he always responded, he never backed-down; not even when things looked bleak and hope had gone out the window, he always pushed himself onwards." Squall looked passed Seifer, reflecting on Seifer's words. "Where is that Squall? Where has he gone off to?" Seifer added, looking up at the ceiling. "Where is the man that knocked some sense into me?" Seifer looked back down at him. "I truly hope that he's still here in Garden. Is he gone, Squall?" Squall swallowed hard and looked at Seifer.

"He's right here." Squall replied. "He was just… out of commission for a moment there. Thanks for bringing him back." Seifer smirked and placed a comforting hand on Squall's shoulder. Squall nodded and started to walk out of the dorm area.

"Where are you going?" Seifer asked, caught off guard by Squall's sudden move.

"I'm going to tell Cid that I'm staying; not as commander, but as a SeeD." Squall replied over his shoulder as he continued to walk. Seifer smirked from where he stood by Squall's door.

"Now THAT's my rival." He laughed, closing Squall's door and walking down the hallway. He was happier than he thought he would be, knowing that Squall would stay; but things were sure going to take a turn for the worst when Squall confronted the anti-sorceress movement within Garden. What the anti-sorceress did not know was that Seifer was planning a rebellion against them, a rebellion to free Squall and Rinoa from being hunted down.

**Author's end note: **Hope you guys liked it and I assure you that the story will start moving a little more. I got a couple of action scenes waiting to be added to the story. Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, its characters and locations; all these belong to Square the source of all goodness..... I think.

Author's note: Guys I'm really sorry for taking this long to write again, I really am. I am bad luck incarnated, especially when it comes to technology (damn computers have it against me). So please forgive me. Read & Review, please. Enjoy!

**Chapter 10: Determination**

Squall walked towards the elevator; he was going to tell Cid he was going to stay. There he found Rinoa sitting on the steps of the stairs. He stopped; she looked sad, she looked hurt… He slowly approached her and sat next to her. Not a word escaped his lips; he just stared down at his hands. She pulled her knees closer to her chest.

"Squall, are we leaving Garden because the students are afraid of me?" She asked sadly, her voice breaking up. Frowning, Squall turned his hands into fists. He did not dare to look at her, until he heard a soft sob coming from her. He looked at her; her face was hidden within her arms. He moved slightly closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Rin, we're not leaving." He said, making her look at him; her eyes glistering with tears, a confused expression on her face. "Not everybody thinks that way, only a few. We have people who believe in you and your selfless and caring personality. They know you're not evil or anything like it."He added softly. She sniffled again and felt the tears threatening to fall again. He pulled her in for a hug. "I'm going to make an announcement to the students; there had been a change of plans." He said, trying to calm her down a little; to which, she nodded, burying her face against his chest.

Cid looked out the window while Edea sadly stared at the ground underneath her feet. Cid had just told her that Squall had resigned. She was sitting in the same chair Squall had used earlier when talking to Cid. The elder man did not want Squall to leave neither did he wanted a girl like Rinoa to leave either. Suddenly Squall walked in unannounced and took the lift to Garden's cockpit. Cid looked at Edea and stood up. Walking as fast as his feet took him to the lift, he called Squall's name. He pressed the button to call the lift several times, but it did not respond. Squall had probably deactivated the lift. Just as suddenly as he entered, Squall's voice was heard through the MIC.

"**Students of Balamb Garden and SeeD members; this is Commander Squall Leonhart." **The students around Garden looked at the speakers of the MIC system. **"I'm using this method to inform you that I will not resign to my position as Commander of SeeD."** The students and SeeDs the supported Squall and Rinoa had started cheering where they had been gathering at the Quad thanks to Seifer.** "The anti-sorceress movement will have to rethink their strategy to run Rinoa and me out of Garden." **A female student stared at the commotion in the Quad from the hallway and frowned at the sight.** "If you really don't want to fight, if you lack the courage and strength, leave Garden and return when it's all over. That way you won't get sucked into a battle you don't want to be a part of. That is all." **Seifer smirked from within the crowd of cheering students at the Quad. He looked to the entrance and saw Rinoa walking in. He ran up to her.

"Rinoa!" He called out to her. "You see this people?" He gestured to the crowd behind him. "This people are on your side." He said with a smirk. Rinoa smiled sweetly at him and nodded happily.

"Thanks, Seifer. Squall told me what you said to him." She said looking at Selphie jumping around with Irvine's hat. "He… he was really grateful." Seifer turned slightly red.

"Just don't go around saying I did that; it will ruin my reputation." He said with a smirk. She grinned and began to walk away.

"I won't and that's a promise." She said, looking back at him before walking towards Selphie. He nodded and turned to the entrance where Quistis and another group of happy students walked in with victorious grins on their faces. He approached them with a grin of his own.

The lift finally came down and Squall walked off in front of Cid. He quietly stood there, staring at the young man in front of him.

"Sir, I' m sorry, but I just can't leave Garden. Someone came to my dorm and told me so many things that were true. They told me that Garden is part of who I am and they're right. I wont leave Balamb Garden." Squall said apologetically bowing his head in front of Cid. The elder man looked at the young brunette and smiled.

"Now, that was the answer I had expected from you. Continue with your fine work." Cid said turning away from Squall with a smile. Squall straightened his body and saluted.

"Yes, sir." Squall said as he watched the elder man walk back to his desk followed by a pleased Edea. Squall walked out of the office and ran towards the elevator. He had to go to the Quad; the others were waiting there along with the students that liked Rinoa. But that was the least of his worries; there was a group of students that did not like the fact that Rinoa was a sorceress and probably were willing to do anything to get them out of Balamb Garden.

At the Galbadian presidential palace, the man in the white hooded-cloak walked into the gorgeous room, where the president spent most of his time. The two small bottles of liquid he always carried where still with him but some of it had been used. He spotted the president at the far end of the enormous room. Kneeling down close to the throne like chair behind the desk, he lowered his head and got ready to hear the man's angry voice.

"Sir, our plan to retrieve the original specimen for our experiment." He said quietly. He heard the president's wine glass crash behind him after it flew right over him.

"Why? There were so many possibilities; he could have kicked her out to keep his position, he could have left with her and he could have started a small civil war in there. Balamb Garden was supposed to kick them out or give them to us. Why didn't it work that way?" The president said pacing around in front of the hooded man. He looked up.

"According to my informant, they still have quite a following. Commander Leonhart has a strong bond with his subordinates. His ways to lead had reached most of the student body and the SeeD members; even my informant feels compelled to his leadership, to his words. He makes everything seem small in comparison to their strength as an elite mercenary organization." The hooded man said slowly getting up. The president sat again, he smirked.

"Then we'll have to make her feel guilty." He laughed wickedly. "Prepare a squadron and as soon as you're done order an attack to Balamb Garden; their main objective is to kill as many as they can and either kill or heavily wound Squall Leonhart." The hooded man bowed and walked away from the president, who continued to talk to himself. "She will regret staying at Balamb Garden."


End file.
